And still the brethren watched them from the door, Till purple distance took them. How she wept, When, looking back, she saw the things she knew-- The palace, streak of waterfall, the mead, The gloomy belt of forest--fade away Into the gray of mountains! With a chill The wide strange world swept round her, and she clung Close to her husband's side. A silken tent They spread for her, and for her tiring-girls, Upon the hills at sunset. All was hushed Save Edwin; for the thought that Bertha slept In that wild place,--roofed by the moaning wind, The black blue midnight with its fiery pulse,-- So good, so precious, woke a tenderness In which there lived uneasily a fear That kept him still awake. And now, high up, There burned upon the mountain's craggy top Their journey's rosy signal. On they went; And as the day advanced, upon a ridge, They saw their home o'ershadowed by a cloud; And, hanging but a moment on the steep, A sunbeam touched it into dusty rain; And, lo, the town lay gleaming 'mong the woods, And the wet shores were bright. As nigh they drew, The town was emptied to its very babes, And spread as thick as daisies o'er the fields. The wind that swayed a thousand chestnut cones, And sported in the surges of the rye, Forgot its idle play, and, smit with love, Dwelt in her fluttering robe. On every side The people leaped like billows for a sight, And closed behind, like waves behind a ship. Yet, in the very hubbub of the joy, A deepening hush went with her on her way; She was a thing so exquisite, the hind Felt his own rudeness; silent women blessed The lady, as her beauty swam in eyes Sweet with unwonted tears. Through crowds she passed, Distributing a largess of her smiles; And as she entered through the palace-gate, The wondrous sunshine died from out the air, And everything resumed its common look. The sun dropped down into the golden west, Evening drew on apace; and round the fire The people sat and talked of her who came That day to dwell amongst them, and they praised Her sweet face, saying she was good as fair.